Chapter 328 The upper part of the waterwheel stands on the river bank, while the lower part is immersed in the water
Before the product was even made, my aunt had already thought of the marketing method.
"But demand for this thing isn't high. If we sell it normally, not only will we not be able to sell enough, but we won't be able to raise the price either. How about... we make up a story for it, package it a bit, and make it a high-end item. This is what we call brand value. Whenever people see a farm with this item, they'll definitely think the owner is either wealthy or noble."
"In that case, who among those merchants wouldn't want to have it? Isn't it that merchants just lack the status of being recognized by society?"
"But I need to think about this sales pitch a little more carefully."
Ruan Mian couldn't help laughing. He spent two days and two nights with Ruan Jinxiu to guide the completion of the water truck.
They also went to the bank of the Linfen River on purpose, because the starting point of the wheat field was not far from the river bank.
When the site was originally chosen, the convenience of irrigation was taken into consideration.
They made a large vertical wheel out of bamboo and wood, supported it by a horizontal axis, and placed it by the water.
The upper part of the waterwheel stands on the river bank, while the lower part is immersed in the water.
Around the waterwheel, a dozen small wooden barrels were placed diagonally. Located in the turbulent waters of the Linfen River, the wheel would turn as soon as the surging river waters hit the waterwheel, and the small wooden barrels would draw water from the river, pouring it into the troughs, flowing into the canals, and then through different channels into the farmland.
After repeated practice and improvement, it took them almost a week to completely complete the project.
Of course, it is hard not to attract attention for such a large water truck standing on the river bank.
Although this place is some distance away from the village, there are still many villagers passing by. When they saw this thing, word spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and they all came out of the village to watch. Especially after seeing with their own eyes that the river water was diverted into the canal like this, everyone was shocked.
"I didn't expect Madam Ruan could create this! She's truly divine! We don't have to worry about pouring bucket after bucket of water into the canal anymore. This is great!"
"Madam Ruan, our village is blessed to have you. We are all blessed by you. Thank you so much!"
"That's right! Our village will definitely have everything we need in the future. This will be better than living in Kyoto!"
While everyone was praising it, Lord Lin also rushed over after hearing the news and personally inspected the water truck.
He was fascinated by the show, and even at the end he let out a long sigh with a look of relief.
"That's great, that's great!!"
Ruan Mian saw the sincerity in his eyes and could tell that this man was truly a good official who cared about the people.
Compared with the corrupt officials he had encountered before, Lord Lin was so much better.
He always thought about how to develop Wuheng City and how to help the people avoid suffering, but from the expansion of the wheat fields, Ruan Mian knew that Lord Lin was definitely worth his investment.
With his help, the task of building Wuheng City was much easier.
Today, the city’s infrastructure is very reasonable, the grain industry is booming, and they are even mobilizing manpower to build more roads.
Some time ago, they came to Jinsha Village specifically to ask Ruan Mian how he built the road in the past, so that they could learn from it.
Now that the water truck is completed, his relief is undeniable.
"Madam Ruan, I admire you so much for being able to do all this as a woman. How many women in this world can be like you? I am..."
"Your Excellency is mistaken," Ruan Mian interrupted him. "I'm simply bolder than the average woman, and I simply don't care about common sense. If only the world were more tolerant of women, there would surely be more women who are truly 'gold'."
Hearing this, Lord Lin stroked his beard and nodded in agreement. These few short sentences were a real enlightenment for him.
"That's what Madam Ruan said, yes."
As she was feeling emotional, Cuizhu and Yunxiu came hurriedly over, only to see Cuizhu telling her a piece of news with a bad look on her face.
"Miss, there's another little mouse at work. The orchard Madam Wei is in charge of has been uprooted before it's even produced any fruit! And our ginseng base was also overfertilized!"
Hearing her say this, Ruan Mian immediately frowned.
Although Cuizhu and the others took timely measures to remedy the situation, it was obvious that these people did it on purpose, and they were worried that they were Wen Qiang's people.
"Did they catch anyone?"
Yun Xiu immediately stepped forward and said, "I have already controlled the person. I am just waiting for my sister to decide what to do."
Lord Lin, who was standing by, also heard this. His face darkened, and he was furious. "How could such a thing even exist?! I'm going with you to take a look. I will not let those who intentionally destroyed property off!"
However, when he learned the identities of those people, Ruan Mian felt relieved.
Some of them are familiar faces. I have dealt with them before when working in the forest farm.
But they are all refugees living in the city. Logically, most of them should have been registered now. Why would they come to the village to commit crimes for no reason?
Before they showed up, Ruan Mian heard those people cursing angrily.
"We are both exiles, in the same situation, yet you bully us like this!"
"Could it be that the Ruan family is really like what some people say, that now that they have some power, they want to become the local boss? We contributed to the construction of the road back then, but now they just want to give it up? How can they just burn their bridges after crossing them?!"
Hearing this, Ruan Mian stepped forward decisively and interrupted their complaints.
"Bullying? When did I bully you, and how did I bully you? Why don't you elaborate?"
"It just so happens that the prefect is here today, so let's study this matter carefully."
When those people saw the prefect striding towards them, their faces changed slightly, but the next moment they all knelt on the ground and shouted, "Sir! Sir, please make the decision for us!"
They all knelt in front of Lord Lin and spoke with miserable expressions, as if they had suffered a great injustice.
"These past few days, we saw that Madam Ruan was hiring workers, so we brothers thought about going there to find work to make a living. We've helped Madam Ruan build roads before. But, the guy running the Ruan business refused to hire us. When we wanted to ask why, he kicked us out! He even threatened that we were a group of unwanted beggars!"
"Sir, we have worked diligently, starting as refugees and becoming naturalized citizens. We have never stolen or robbed anyone. Not only do they not allow us to recruit workers, but they also insult us with such rude words! How can we tolerate this?"
Hearing that it was just a small matter, Ruan Mian and Lord Lin shook their heads helplessly.
Prefect Lin even helped the leader up and said, "Perhaps there is some misunderstanding. Besides, even if they don't want to hire workers, you wouldn't destroy other people's property like this."
"Look at these orchards and the medicinal herbs. If you do this, won't they lose a lot?"
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